


Five Criminal Things Maggie Learned to Do (And One She Didn't)

by Doranwen



Category: Leverage
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crimes & Criminals, Gen, Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:34:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25329355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doranwen/pseuds/Doranwen
Summary: Maggie didn't join the crew all at once after Nate went to prison.  It was a slow accumulation of skills over time…
Relationships: Maggie Collins & Eliot Spencer, Maggie Collins & Team Leverage
Comments: 12
Kudos: 37
Collections: Alternate Universe Exchange 2020





	Five Criminal Things Maggie Learned to Do (And One She Didn't)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fencesit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fencesit/gifts).



> I had spotted this prompt in your letter during signups and thought it would be a lot of fun to write, so imagine my glee when I opened my assignment to find it was you. I hope you enjoy these glimpses of Maggie joining the crew!
> 
> Much thanks to my beta [Elfwreck](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elfwreck)!

**1\. Grifting…**

"Nate owns this place?" Maggie asked, glancing around McRory's Bar. Eliot smiled at her from the far corner of the room; Hardison and Parker were nowhere to be seen.

Sophie sat calmly across from her. "Actually, Hardison owns the building. But Nate has an apartment above the bar," she answered.

Maggie snorted. "Of course he does." She sighed and fell silent for a few seconds. "OK, why did you ask me here? I mean, it's not like I wasn't in town to look at some pieces at the Boston Museum of Art, but…"

"Because Nate, the bloody idiot, got himself locked up, and we still have jobs to do and people to help," Sophie said with more than a little irritation in her voice. "And we've got a job we need another person for."

Maggie raised an eyebrow. "Tell me."

"We're trying to give a woman back her life savings that this company stole from her. Hardison will be managing the electronic security from the van, Eliot and I are meeting with the executive at a restaurant to draw him out of his office, and Parker has to get to the office undetected, but he's got security men that will spot her in a heartbeat."

Maggie waited for Sophie to continue.

Sophie smiled. "How do you feel about being a distraction?"

* * *

**2\. Picking a lock…**

"Oh, Maggie! It's wonderful to see you!" Sophie called from across the plaza. Eliot trailed behind her.

Maggie took a sip of her coffee and waited for them to sit down. She gave Sophie a _look_ when she did. "You knew full well that you would see me. That's why you gave me the information about being here in San Diego. And I would imagine you already knew that I was going to be appraising some art this weekend."

Sophie merely smiled at her. "Of course we did."

Maggie sighed, but the sigh had little weight to it. "What do you need me to do this time?"

"You ever picked a lock?" Eliot asked.

Maggie blinked. "I don't believe I have."

"Parker can teach you," he assured her.

Sophie added, "We need her at the main offices across town but someone has to get into some of the offices at their old warehouse at the same time, and while that's happening I'll be making sure that all Mr. Langston is thinking about is the money he will make with his prospective business partner." She gestured to herself.

"And there's a good chance I might have to deal with their security, so I can cover you but I might be too busy to hunt for the documents myself," Eliot added.

Maggie thought she should be annoyed at being asked to break the law, but she found herself saying, "OK." It would be more interesting than looking over an old man's collection of art, at least.

* * *

**3\. Performing a lift…**

"I feel absolutely ridiculous," Maggie said. Her arms were halfway around Parker, and one hand had partly disappeared into one of Parker's jacket pockets.

"No, this is how to practice," Parker insisted. "See, if you pretend to bump into me, you've got a split second you can lift whatever you need. But your hands have to be in the right spot, and know how to go in and out without me feeling it." Parker stepped back, removing Maggie's hand from her pocket. "OK, let's try it again. Walk toward me like you're heading past but not paying close attention to where you're going."

Maggie took a deep breath and let it out. "All right." _Walk, then bump, hand already ready to go…_ She continued walking past Parker, then spun around and grinned, holding up the wallet she'd managed to lift from Parker.

Sophie applauded from across the room. "Excellent! And I barely even saw your hand move. We'll make a thief out of you yet."

Maggie wondered why the idea didn't bother her.

* * *

**4\. Hacking security cameras…**

"All right, showtime," Hardison said with a grin. "Show me you remember what I taught you."

Maggie concentrated on the computer terminal window. _Find the system, look for the holes, exploit the vulnerabilities, take control…_ "OK, I'm in," she said, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding. With another command or two she had them up on the monitors. "There, now I can see all the cameras, and where the security men are."

"Nice! That was almost faster than last time."

"Hardison, let's go!" Eliot hissed at him from just outside the van door.

"You remember the drill?" Hardison asked Maggie.

She repeated the instructions they'd gone over endlessly. "I watch your path and guide you around as much of the security as possible; if you're going to run into them anyway, warn Eliot about how many he needs to take out and which direction they'll be coming from."

"You got this. Take care of Lucille for me," he said, patting the van door on his way out.

Maggie chuckled. "Just you and me, Lucille," she said to the empty van before she reached for her comm and put it in.

* * *

**5\. …And more…**

"OK, you should be good for five minutes," Hardison said.

Parker's voice came in clearly over the comms. _"Piece of cake. They've got a mid-century Glenn-Rieder wall safe. I'll have it open in four."_

Maggie sat beside him, watching the security cameras as he monitored his redirection of the security feed to the loop he'd pre-programmed. This part of the job only required Parker to crack a safe and grab the documents needed by their client, and Hardison to handle the security feeds for her, but they all came, just in case. Eliot waited in the driver's seat in case they needed a quick getaway, Sophie in shotgun, and Maggie was watching Hardison's moves in an attempt to pick up some more tricks just in case.

Hardison swore suddenly. "A couple of the security guys just broke their pattern and are heading your way. They don't look like they're in a hurry, but…"

_"I'm almost in."_

Maggie tracked the progress of the two men until they vanished into a dead zone and didn't come out. "Are they still there? I don't see them emerge on either of those screens." She pointed to the camera views on either side of the dead spot.

 _"Yeah, they're still there,"_ Parker whispered. _"I've got the documents but it sounds like they're playing some game or something. If I make one move out of this office they'll see me."_

"Damnit!" Eliot said. "If I go in there they'll _know_ we were here. They're not supposed to find out yet."

"I can distract them at the entrance, but that floor is out of my reach," Sophie said.

Hardison's fingers flew over the keys, pulling up other systems. "I can try to activate an alarm or something…"

Maggie rolled her eyes. "I'll go in," she said, retrieving a hair band from her pocket and pulling her blonde locks into a tight ponytail. "Parker, vents in and roof down sound good?"

_"Yeah. Bring the remote release."_

"You're going to go in after her." The tone of Hardison's voice was more disbelief than amazement.

"Parker _has_ trained me on the rigs, you know," Maggie pointed out. "And I'm not afraid of enclosed spaces _or_ heights, unlike _some_ people I could name…" She grinned at his expression and turned to grab a duffel to load with the requested items. "Plus I don't think anyone else could crawl in the vents. Sophie's the only other one that's about Parker's size." She glanced at the other woman and smirked at her widened eyes. "Don't worry, I already know you wouldn't want to even try."

"You going to want a couple fireworks and a lighter?" Eliot asked.

Maggie shoved the rig and their harnesses in the bag. "Yeah, and probably a permanent marker. As large as possible." She glanced down at her clothes. "Good thing I went with black and form-fitting tonight."

A minute later, Hardison and Eliot were supporting her feet as she wriggled into the ventilation shaft and inched her way forward.

 _"OK, right at the next branch, and then about twenty feet, and you should be able to drop into an empty room,"_ Hardison advised.

The drop jarred her bones somewhat but she landed solidly on her feet and, guided by Hardison's voice, was able to dodge the patrolling security guards and reach the second-floor elevator bank. She pulled out the permanent marker and covered a few walls and an elevator door with slogans protesting the company. The fireworks were fortunately all on nice long fuses, and she connected them together, lying them on the floor by the elevators. "OK, ready to go."

_"Almost ready… Now!"_

She flicked the lighter on and set the end of the fuse alight before clicking it shut and tossing the lighter in the bag. She grabbed the bag and bolted around the corner, following Hardison's commands as she navigated the hallways to the stairs on the opposite side of the building. The door to the stairwell was almost shut when the explosions went off, and she sped up her climb. She ducked into the next floor when she heard a door open above her, and pressed herself flat next to the door to the stairwell as she waited for the guards to pass her level.

_"All right, clear to go up again."_

Her legs were burning by the time she reached Parker, who was in the stairwell waiting for her. "If I'm going to do this more often," Maggie gasped, "we seriously need to do some endurance training."

"I'll set up a program as soon as we're done with this job," Parker answered, taking the bag from her and checking its contents. She gave a little nod of satisfaction. "Come on, we got to get to the roof before they return."

On the roof, Maggie's hands trembled only slightly as she pulled the harness on. They'd done it in practice, but she hadn't had to actually _use_ it on a job yet… She took a deep breath and checked the straps to make sure they were properly tight and in the right places.

Parker finished hooking up the rig and clipped them together. "Ready?" she asked, clutching the bag in one hand and the rope in the other.

Maggie nodded, and then they were flying. She grinned with glee; the thrill was way better on a job than in training!

Parker unclipped them and rummaged in the bag for the remote to release the rope before they headed for the van.

"Oh, that was fun," Maggie declared as she dropped onto the floor of the van. She sat up and worked on loosening the harness, a task made more difficult by the movement of the van as Eliot drove it through the city streets.

"You make a good backup," Parker told her.

Maggie smiled at her. "Well, I had a good teacher."

* * *

**+1. …But not killing anyone.**

"A little higher," Eliot coached, tapping Maggie's arm, and she lifted it accordingly. "Good, now it's going to go here—" he drew the arm across, "—and then follow through—" he mimicked the recoil from a fist, "—and you've got him." He grinned. "Now try it in slow motion, without me leading you."

Maggie concentrated on the moves Eliot had shown her, throwing her body into the punch. As she did, her mind flashed back to the one she'd thrown at the smug face of Ian Blackpoole, and some of the fury that had boiled beneath the surface then sank into her movement.

Eliot caught it before it could connect with his face. "That… was a little more than slow."

Maggie grimaced. "Sorry. I was remembering…"

Eliot said nothing, only a quirk of his head betraying acknowledgment of her words.

She looked away from him for a moment, taking a deep breath. "If I asked you to teach me how to kill someone, would you?"

Eliot blinked. "You serious, darlin'?"

She waved her hand, dismissing the question. "It's just a hypothetical question. Yes or no?"

He gazed steadily at her profile. "No. Killin' changes you, kills the person you used to be."

She laughed a little, but it had little humor in it. "When Sam was sick, I used to wish there was someone who was responsible for it, someone I could kill, and then Sam would be okay. But it was a disease. You can't punch or shoot a disease." She blinked back a few tears that had started to gather. "And then he was gone, and so was the mother who wanted to kill for him." She closed her eyes briefly. "So I went on with life, just a woman with a job as an art inspector and a drunk for a husband." She snorted. "Well, ex-husband, after a bit. Even if he forgets that part."

Eliot laughed.

The half-smile disappeared from Maggie's face, and she pressed her lips together tightly. "Until I knew Ian Blackpoole wasn't just a bastard, but the man who let my son die for the sake of his profits, and then just for a little while, that mother returned." She looked over at him, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Don't worry, I'm not about to go murder the man. Humiliating him and ousting him from his position was very satisfying, though."

"That's reassuring," Eliot drawled.

Maggie smiled in response, but let it fade. She was silent for a few seconds. "Sometimes I miss being that mother, though," she whispered. "Being _a_ mother. Feeling like I had a purpose, a reason for being."

Eliot shook his head. "You never stopped being a mother. That doesn't end just because Sam died."

"I know, just—" She wiped at the corner of her right eye.

"Besides, you've got all of us." Eliot waited until she met his gaze before continuing. "Who else reminds Parker to brush her teeth? And you know you use your 'mom' voice on Hardison every time he tries to bring his gadgets to the dinner table." Eliot smiled at her. "I'd say you've got a purpose, right here, with us."

The sound that came from Maggie's mouth was half a sob and half a laugh, and she dried her eyes with her fingers. "Someone has to." It wasn't going to be Sophie, who didn't seem to know how to interact with the rest of them as anything other than a director to acting students. Maggie was _still_ trying to build a deeper friendship with her. At least they both had in common the frustration of dealing with one Nate Ford.

"And someone has to make sure you can at least defend yourself a little, long enough for me to get there." Eliot's smile held a little teasing note. "That would be my job. You don't need me to teach you to kill anyone for that. Even if you are my best student."

Maggie laughed at that, a real laugh this time. "I'm the only one who actually _listens_ to you, you mean." She'd heard him trying to teach Parker things; it gave new meaning to the expression "selective hearing".

Eliot shrugged. "That's the important part. And you don't complain about it like some people I know…"

Maggie hid a smile as she grabbed her water bottle and took a long gulp. Hardison whined about learning anything outside of his tech world, she'd noticed. "All right, let me try that punch again. Without trying to knock you out this time." She grinned.

Eliot grinned back. "You could try, but you wouldn't succeed." He motioned for her to try it. "Keep your arm up, remember."

She threw the punch, and knew as her arm moved that it would land as solid as the truth Eliot had reminded her of.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't plan on writing more of this AU, but if anyone wants to write sequels, let me know. It would be fun to see Maggie help them break Nate out…


End file.
